HDid a lot of work today such as assembly of all the bits I wire wheeled and clear coated. Lots of wire wheeling rust off the axles, height adjustment rod, even the axle retaining clips. A lot of work! Getting those rear clips in place was very tricky. A learning curve, but I got there. I think that cross member below the rear flap gets in the way. Putting on the axle clips would be easier with it off. Probably how it was done at the factory.
The rest of the chassis was a breeze.
I applied the reproduction labels I got a few weeks ago with care. I went by the positions on a couple of other mowers I have with the turbo disc labels. I think I did ok. What do you think? They're very well done and really make the refurbishment pop.
The hardest job of all was scrubbing, scrubbing and scrubbing some more, the white plastic of the wheels using steel wool and various household cleaners. They had really deeply ingrained soiling from their relentless working environment. It took ages to get them looking almost as good as new. May have to try using a rotary tool on the others, or maybe get some Domestos?
Next is to give the engine abit off a detail before fitting it on. At least I have a nice repainted cover ready to go I on.
PS: in hindsight, I would prefer to have just painted the entire base in the fresh paint and maybe tape off a small patch of good original paint to keep as a sample, but this was my original plan and I did notice they didn't paint the inner part that well anyway, with patches of scant paint evident as they knew it wouldn't be seen.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
